Scientology’s Orwellian methods of control explained in a new book by Jefferson Hawkins

Jefferson Hawkins has put out another book about Scientology — and this one is based on the work he did here at the Underground Bunker in his series about Scientology’s bizarre system of ‘ethics.’

He’s updated and added to the series and collected it all in an ebook which isavailable on Amazon. He also sent us the book’s preface, and we’re going to reproduce it here.

Jeff is one of the wisest people we’ve met from the world of Scientology, and we’re fortunate to have his help here at the Bunker. We hope you take the time to consider downloading his book

CLOSING MINDS

By Jefferson Hawkins

PREFACE

HOW DOES SCIENTOLOGY control its members? How does it convince them to avoid any negative information about Scientology? How does it persuade them not to look at critical information on the Internet, on TV, or in the press? How does it convince them to avoid or entirely disconnect from people who are critical of Scientology – even their close friends, their family members, or their own parents or children? All while loftily talking about “improving communication” and “searching for truth”?

How can they compel otherwise intelligent people to live in an information bubble where they will only believe what Scientology tells them and refuse to look at any critical information?

How do they convince ordinary people to donate huge amounts of money to the Church, far more than they can afford? How do they induce staff to work long and hard hours, endure deprivation and abuse, for little or no pay?

While this book is primarily written for Scientologists, former Scientologists, and their families, it may be of interest to anyone curious about the subject.

It is an exploration into a body of information that Scientology calls “ethics technology.” However, it has little to do with the subject of ethics as most people understand it. Instead, it forms a very sophisticated system of mental control.

This book is my effort to deconstruct that system.

I was a Scientologist for more than 35 years. During that time, I joined Scientology’s dedicated inner core group, the paramilitary Sea Organization, worked my way up through the ranks, and spent my final fifteen years as a Scientologist at the Church’s international headquarters in San Jacinto, California.

I was a believer. I believed what the Church told me. I went along with the Church’s lies and fabrications about its own size and influence, for the “greater good.” I followed orders. I kept my doubts and disagreements to myself, telling no one, not even my wife. I endured years of hardship, physical and mental abuse at the International Base, all because I believed I was contributing to a “higher purpose.”

I had been indoctrinated to believe that by doing what I was told, following orders, refusing to listen to criticism of Scientology, and suppressing my own doubts, I was being “ethical.”

Ultimately, when the cognitive dissonance became too much to bear, I grew disillusioned with Scientology and finally left in 2005. In 2010, I published a memoir of my time in Scientology, Counterfeit Dreams, exposing the abuse, lies, and fraud that I had witnessed.

My recovery from Scientology was a long process. Some have compared it to peeling an onion. Once you have peeled off a layer of indoctrination, you find more layers underneath. I chronicled the process in an online blog called Leaving Scientology.

Yet even after all of that, there was still one layer remaining, one unanswered question. How, despite Scientology’s failures, despite its abusive treatment of members, despite its continuous lies, did they manage to maintain the allegiance of otherwise intelligent people. True, many are leaving or have left, but they still somehow maintain the loyalty of thousands.

By 2010, most of my Scientology books had been dumped, unceremoniously, into the recycling bin. However, I had kept one for further analysis: Introduction to Scientology Ethics.

I had felt for some time that this book formed the core of Scientology’s mental manipulation techniques. In the Sea Org, anyone who steps out of line is forced to restudy this book over and over again, until they practically know it by heart. It is the go-to book used by the organization when any member begins to doubt or question Scientology. And anyone who steps out of line in any Scientology Organization is sent to the “Ethics Officer,” who uses the principles in this book to pull them back into line. Therefore, I surmised, Introduction to Scientology Ethics must contain the core principles of Scientology’s mental control “technology.”

And so it does.

I first published my analysis of Scientology’s “Ethics Book” as a series of guest articles for Tony Ortega’s blog, The Underground Bunker. I felt that deconstructing, picking apart and analyzing Introduction to Scientology Ethics chapter by chapter might not only be revelatory to Scientologists and ex-Scientologists, but could also demonstrate to non-Scientologists exactly how the trap is sprung.

After the articles were completed, I decided this subject was of sufficient value to publish as a book, expanding on the essays and consolidating my analysis into one location.

I have tried to keep Scientology terminology and jargon to a minimum, and define these terms in context where possible.

I hope this book is useful to ex-Scientologists in peeling back that last “onion layer.” And for those who have never been in Scientology, I hope it provides an informative peek behind the curtain and some understanding of how they command the unquestioning allegiance of their membership.